Scars Revealed
by geminalupus
Summary: "Who did this to you?" It was at that moment Mal felt Ben's hand brush across her bare back and it felt like the ground had dropped out from under her as she remembered something she never should have forgotten. 16 years on the Isle is bound to leave some scars. Mal tries her best to hide it, but what happens when her magic runs out during a date with Ben? Rated T for safety
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first Descendants fic, so sorry if the characters seem a little OOC. Big, big thanks to Karen Hikari for beta-ing this for me! If you love Descendants and angst go check out her story The Ones Who Wander! *shameless plug***

 **Warnings: This fic is rated T for safety. There is mention of child abuse/harm/self-harm/and scars.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviews are rainbow unicorns and cookies!**

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It had been almost five months since Mal and her friends had faced off against her mother, and Mal could happily say that she was feeling… good. She and her friends had really started to settle in at Auradon, and she was slowly, _slowly_ , able to stop waiting for the shoe to drop. She wasn't allowing herself to trust without abandon—sixteen years on the Isle weren't overcome that easily—but she could find herself getting through almost an entire day without waiting for someone to declare it all a prank and send her and her friends packing .

They'd learned a lot in their time here. There was the obvious royal stich, the manners, and the politicking, and the fashion ( _way_ more Evie's speed than her own), but there were also the things they didn't realize they didn't know. Like swimming. For all that they had lived on an island their whole lives, few, if any, of the villain kids knew how to swim. With the boys busy with their tourney practices, Mal and Evie had learned to swim, their coach promising to keep it a secret, and now Mal was going to surprise Ben by taking him back to the lake of their first date.

"C'mon, Mal, just a little hint?" Mal giggled—and, really, just how much had she changed? She never used to giggle!— as she led a blindfolded Ben to the top of the outcropping where he had once dived into the lake to impress her. Mal bit her lip as she grabbed the edges of the blindfold, pausing for a moment before pulling it off.

"Open!" For a moment Ben's hazel eyes burned into hers, her heart skipping a beat as the sun made the edges gleam green, much like her own, before he released her from his gaze and looked around, his face lighting up with delight as he realized where she'd brought him.

"This is where it all began." He said softly, brushing her hair behind her ear. Mal bit her lip, glee at the real surprise she was about to unveil coiling in her stomach.

"Yeah it is," she agreed, taking a step back from Ben, a step closer to the edge. "But that's not all I wanted to show you." Before Ben could say a word, Mal spun around and dove off the edge of the cliff into the water below. Ben was frozen in shock for a moment, but as soon as he heard the splash a jolt of fear burst through him, remembering her struggles in the water last time they were here.

"Mal!" Ben dove in after her without another word, slicing through the water below and frantically looking around as he surfaced.

Mal laughed at him from a few yards away, amused at his befuddled expression at finding her calmly treading the water. Ben didn't seem to notice the hair plastered to his face or the water dripping down his nose as he stared at her.

"But… when did you learn to swim?" Mal grinned widely.

"Evie and I have been practicing while you've been at tourney. I was keeping it a surprise. Should teach you to pay more attention to your girlfriend." A grin as wide as Mal's own split across Ben's face, as well as a look promising vengeance he must have learned from her. He dove towards her, and Mal took off in the opposite direction, showing off her newfound talent. Unfortunately, a few months' lessons weren't quite enough to outpace a prince who had grown up spending summers at Queen Ariel's seaside palace. Mal shrieked as Ben grabbed her from behind, spinning her around in the water and splashing them both. Right as Mal was about to yell at him to stop making her so dizzy, she felt him stiffen against her back and pause. She tried to turn and look at him, but his arms were like steel around her, preventing her from moving. A pit of fear opened up in her heart.

"Ben? What's wrong?" Her eyes scanned the shore, trying to find a threat.

"Who—" Ben's voice sounded strangled, "Who did this to you?"

"Ben, what do you—" It was at that moment Mal felt Ben's hand brush across her bare back and it felt like the ground had dropped out from under her as she remembered something she never should have forgotten. _The lake's enchanted; it washes away all spells._ Her magic had failed her and now Ben's hand was tracing over the scars she had never wanted him to see.

"Mal," Ben repeated, tightening his protective hold, "who did this to you?"

While most of Mal was screaming in fear to run away, the rest of her was in enough shock that she surprised herself with the soft-spoken, bitter reply. "Who do you think?"

The moment they arrived on the Isle, they knew they were going to have to hide. Everywhere they turned, people were flashing their arms, their legs, proudly displaying the clear skin for all to see. It was unnerving, how much smooth, unblemished flesh surrounded them.

It was normal in the Isle, for everyone to cover up their skin, hide the marks of shame everyone shared, pretend the pain away. It was blatantly obvious that Auradon had a different normal. It was even more obvious that their difference would be treated with pity. And if there was anything that repulsed a villain kid, even more than goodness, it was pity. So as soon as they were sequestered in their new rooms, Mal had searched her mother's tome until she found a spell that would let them hide. Hide the thick, knotted scar from the time Carlos had his leg caught in one of the bear traps guarding his mother's coats. Hide the million other scars proving over and over what a failure he was to his mother. Hide the evidence of all the times Jay got caught by his victims. Hide the mark across his cheekbone where his father's ring caught him after the first and only time he came home empty-handed. Evie had the least scars of any of them, most of them accidental or self-inflicted, because she couldn't be the fairest with a marked-up body. Like Grimhilde, Maleficent preferred verbal whipping, but Mal carefully made sure to cover the evidence of the one time her mother's whips turned physical. The magic was fairly permanent, and slowly the children of Jafar, Cruella De Vil, Grimhilde, and Maleficent allowed themselves to wear t-shirts, shorts, and even a backless sundress on a date with her boyfriend.

A part of Mal chuckled darkly at herself, at her naiveté, for even allowing herself to forget that under the fake glamour of the magic, her scars were still very, very real. _You can take the kid from the Isle but you'll never be able to remove evidence of the Isle from the kid._

A warmth on her face and the sound of someone calling her name jerked Mal back to the present. Ben had turned her around in his arms and was cradling her face, hazel eyes staring at her with worry.

"Mal… your mother did this?" Mal's lips twitched as her tone varied somewhere between sarcasm and condescension.

"You didn't send them to the Isle because they didn't contribute to the bake sale, Ben." Ben's face paled even further, and he pulled her close, wrapping her in a hug.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He murmured into her hair, carefully stroking her back. Mal gazed over his shoulder, eyes off in the distance as she spoke on autopilot.

"You weren't supposed to know." _Why was he still hugging her? Why was she letting him? She should be running away, he should be saying he couldn't be seen with someone like her, regardless of the magic she could use to cover it up again._ Mal pulled back, her gaze searching out Ben's.

"Why are you here?" _Why are you still with me? Why haven't you told me to leave?_ Ben's eyes saddened as he seemed to know the unspoken questions.

"Because I love you Mal."

Mal tried to pull back further, confused, but Ben wouldn't let her.

"But… the scars…" Ben's eyes hardened into chips of cold amber and his grip on her tightened.

"I hate that you have them. There isn't punishment enough for what Maleficent did to you. But I love _you_ , Mal. Scars and all." Mal's breath caught in her throat. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. This isn't how it went on the Isle.

 _You're not on the Isle_ , her brain reminded her as Ben leaned in and gave her a tender kiss to punctuate his statement. _You're in Auradon._

A small smile graced Mal's face as Ben pulled away, and there was really only one thing she could say.

"I love you too."


	2. 100 Fav Surprise Sequel!

**A/N: Surprise! So when I originally wrote Scars Revealed, it was meant to be just a quick one-shot. However, since I posted it, this story has received over 100 favorites and almost as many follows, my first for any story I've written. As a thank you to everyone who read, favorited, followed, and commented, I decided to do a sequel! Many, many thanks to my wonderful beta Karen Hikari, without whom this couldn't have happened (also shout out to her story The Ones Who Wander— there's a reference to that fic in here for anyone who's read it!). No matter where you are in the world, Happy Thanksgiving to all my wonderful readers, and I'm so thankful to you all!**

 **WARNINGS: This chapter is heavier on the language and abuse/self-harm references than the previous chapter. I would rate this a strong T for language, angst, and references to abuse/self-harm of minors. If any of these are a trigger for you please do not read, I will never be offended by that! Always Keep Fighting and remember You Are Not Alone 3**

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Evie looked up as Mal closed the door behind her.

"So, how'd your date go?" She teased. Evie knew Mal had been planning on surprising Ben for weeks now, finally revealing the hard work the girls had been up to, learning how to swim.

Mal let out a shaky breath, arms wrapping around herself as she met Evie's eyes nervously. "Ben knows."

Instantly, Evie was on alert, muscles tensing in preparation of what Mal would say next. There were several things that Ben could now _know_ that would have Mal this shaken, and most of them involved secrets that anyone from the Isle of the Lost would rather remained firmly hidden.

"Mal? What—"

"It's all my fault. I can't believe I forgot." Mal laughed incredulously, running a hand through her hair. Evie slowly moved off of the bed, approaching Mal as she tried to figure out if Mal was upset, in shock, or both.

"Mal, what did you forget?" Evie questioned. Mal's eyes, which had seemed lost in thought, refocused on Evie. She let out a gust of air before she answered.

"The freaking Lake removes all enchantments." It took Evie a moment, doing a mental rundown of what enchantments Mal, who didn't care much about her appearance, whose makeup had been done by hand by Evie that morning, and who would have never used another love potion again, would have been using whose removal would have revealed secrets before the realization occurred.

The glamour magic covering her own skin tingled slightly in response, and a wave of ice flowed over Evie as she echoed Mal's first statement.

"Ben knows." Mal nodded, pinching her nose as she seemed to curl in on herself. Anger started to brew inside Evie. "And how did he react?" Mal may have been half-fae, but Evie was a witch in her own right. If Ben had reacted as poorly as Mal's behavior seemed to indicate, well…you know what they say. Hell hath no fury like a woman whose sister you've scorned. Mal looked back up at Evie, disbelief written all over her face.

"He said he loved me and that nothing could change that." Evie's heart broke at the look of utter shock on her heart-sister's face, made even worse by the echoing shock within herself. Just when Evie thought they were finally leaving the Isle behind, something like this would happen that proved that the scars left behind by growing up on the Isle ran much deeper than the ones their magic covered up on their skin.

With no words to offer, Evie just opened her arms and Mal collapsed into them, the two of them shaking with the awareness of just how _fucking screwed up_ their childhoods were that something like this had _that_ big of an impact on them. Evie stroked Mal's back, feeling the rough scars under her hands and picturing the ones littering her thighs, sides, palms, remaining unseen by the enchantment covering her like a second, unblemished skin. The skin that might have really been hers if only they had been taken out of the Isle 16 years sooner. And as Mal's tremors finally started to slow, as the Mistress of All Evil's daughter found her composure, Evie found herself wondering, _Could a miracle happen twice?_

* * *

A week after Ben found out about the scars, a week filled with Ben and Mal looking happier, closer, and stronger than ever, Evie, in a rush of bravery and conviction, removed the enchantments from her own skin so she could tell Doug. That had been two weeks ago now, and at every chance she had she froze up, ice filling her veins and preventing the truth from coming out because _how do you just say something like that?_ She didn't want to hide. More than that, she didn't want to lie. However, the thought of telling Doug made her terrified in a way that only a few things from the Isle could match. Unfortunately, while Evie's magic worked well to remove the enchantment on her skin, she would need help putting it back on.

There were very specific differences in the magic of witches and the Fae. For all intents and purposes, witches (and wizards) were humans who could manipulate the magic around them. Fae were magical beings who harnessed the power within themselves to blend into the rest of the world. For Evie to reinstate the enchantment would require intensive spells and potion making, resulting in a token whose loss or destruction would also remove the enchantment (as her mother had found out in her failed attempts against Snow White). Mal's magic allowed her to hook the magic into her subject, creating self-sustaining spells—the reason her mother had been so feared for her curse-making abilities. Too scared to tell Doug of her past and too ashamed to tell Mal of her failed bravery, Evie remained stuck.

A loud neigh shook Evie out of her thoughts, and the weight in her hands made itself known once more. Having completed their swimming lessons, Evie and Mal had turned their (no longer secret) training to the next biggest skill in Auradon—horseback riding. After three weeks Evie was feeling more comfortable around horses, and had improved in skills enough that it was her responsibility to brush down her steed and put away the tack, hence the reason for the heavy saddle currently in her arms. Mal had missed lessons today due to a Council meeting discussing Ben's first edict.

Evie pursed her lips in disappointment at the row of tack in front of her. Sometime during her lesson, someone had deposited their saddle on the holder where hers was supposed to go, leaving the only empty spot in a position well above her head. _Aren't Auradonians supposed to put things back where they found them?_ Sighing in frustration as she looked around the tack room, Evie spied a short box she could use as a stool. _It's better than nothing._ The box, however, only added about four inches to a foot long deficit in height. She stretched up on her toes, heaving the saddle over her head to try and get it over the pole.

"Evie?" Doug's loud voice calling from outside the room startled her just enough that she lost her balance and she fell off the box, bringing her saddle and the one underneath it down with her with a crash.

"Evie!" She heard Doug rush in as she lay there, breathless and slightly in shock. Her back had struck the hard cement floor, the saddle had collapsed on her ribs, and throbbing in her head and thighs told her they hadn't remained unscathed either. Doug knelt beside her head, grabbing her hand. "Evie, are you alright? Take a deep breath for me." She tried to obey but halfway through her ribs twinged and she cut off with a wince of pain.

"Okay I'm going to move the saddle and make sure nothing's broken, then we can get you to Doc's." Evie nodded in agreement, shutting her eyes as Doug shifted the saddle off of her. It wasn't until she felt the skin on skin of Doug's fingers touching her midriff that she realized her mistake.

"Wait!" Her eyes flew open, hand flying to his to stop it but his eyes were already on the evidence that this pain was far from the worst she had lived through. She saw Doug swallow before his eyes met hers.

"When?" While not the question Evie had been expecting, it was a starting place for a situation that after spending so long obsessing over felt surreal to actually have.

"Not since we knew we were here to stay." Was the only honest answer she could give, since the beginning point for all of this had long since escaped her memory. He nodded as if that was the answer he was expecting.

"Why?" There it was. The question that above all others had kept Evie from starting this conversation with him until the choice was taken out of her hands. How did you explain to someone you… loved, just how much you had despised yourself? How to explain that the enemy causing your wounds… was yourself? Evie closed her eyes and heard Mal's voice in her head. _They won't ever understand us, so we have to own it. Own who we are and our pasts and our parents. They'll try to write our stories for us if we let them, but we are not just_ victims _. We're_ survivors. _Don't let them forget that._

She let her sister's bravery flow over her and loosen the knots in her throat enough to allow her to start speaking.

"Punishments. For not being good enough. Thin enough. Pretty enough." Doug's eyes grew wide in horror as a shaking hand hovered over the surface of her skin.

"Your mother did this to punish you?" Evie's heart grew heavier and she couldn't quite meet Doug's eyes as she answered in a quiet voice.

"Not my mother. I did." Doug made a small noise of pain and reached to brush her hair back.

"Evie, I—"

"I know, I know it doesn't make sense, I—" Evie cut him off, struggling for the words to explain, "I just—it was—I don't know how to explain but—" Doug cut off her ramblings, gently laying his hands over where hers had been turning nervously in her lap.

"Evie, I understand." Evie finally looked at him with exasperated fondness.

"Doug, I really appreciate it, but I don't think you get it, it's not—"

"No, Evie, I _understand._ " Hesitating only once, Doug rolled up the long sleeves he always wore, revealing silvery scars that matched hers. The world seemed to fall away around Evie as she stared in disbelief.

While a small, vicious part of her felt relief at not being alone, not having to explain herself, her actions, the _why_ of it, the rest of her was drowning in horror at how wrong she'd been. Here, right in front of her was the evidence that not even arriving in Auradon 16 years earlier could have saved her the fate of the scars littering her body.

Mirroring his former actions, Evie reached up to touch his cheek. "Doug, I—you—"

"I know, baby, I know." Being careful of her ribs he wrapped her in a hug, shielding her from the rest of the world. Evie burrowed in, mind whirling in circles as Doug rubbed her back gently. She had spent her entire time in Auradon covering up her scars, and the past month scared to tell Doug, scared she wouldn't be able to explain and now she finds she doesn't have to.

Doug pulled back slightly, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Let's get you to Doc, okay? Then I can spend all day telling you how amazing you are." Evie felt her heart swell as he brushed his lips against hers. After all these years, it felt like she finally had a home, even with all their scars.

"Only if I get to do the same for you."


End file.
